Three dead, one missing after flash flood in Pittsburgh

Romy Connolly is lifted from a rescue boat by Pittsburgh emergency responders after being caught in a flash flood, Aug. 19, in Pittsburgh. Three people died in a flash flood on Friday after heavy rains submerged cars in the area around Washington Boulevard, which runs parallel to the Allegheny River in the city's Highland Park neighborhood, after thunderstorms dropped up to 3 inches of rain in an hour.

Tara Howes, 34, of Gibsonia, told the Tribune-Review that "manhole covers started popping up and it looked like the road exploded and the waters came up really fast. I saw people swimming on the sides of the road. It was pretty scary."

The flash floods hit an area that experienced serious flooding last month.

Washington Boulevard is situated in a valley. Rushing water from a July 18 storm stranded motorists and caused a section of the road to buckle.

Claudia Gallagher, 55, of West Mifflin, was driving north on Washington Boulevard at the height of the rainfall Friday and tried to get off the road as the water rose.

"We tried to drive up onto the curb, but the water had other ideas," she told the Post-Gazette.

Her car began to float, and she opened her window and climbed onto the roof. Many other drivers nearby were sitting atop their cars, too, she said.